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Jerry Seinfeld Will Plug Vista
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Aug 21, 2008 05:21 PM
from the for-all-that-is-good-stop-sending-this-one dept.
from the for-all-that-is-good-stop-sending-this-one dept.
Barence writes "Microsoft has signed up comedian Jerry Seinfeld to its $300 million Vista PR blitz, as it attempts to turn around the negative perception surrounding its operating system. Reports suggest Bill Gates will also appear in the ads, which, given the comedy timing he displayed in his 'Bill's Last Day' video, and the deadpan manner of Seinfeld, could result in a huge hit for the company." Reader Zarmanto notes in his journal that "Mac users might be quite amused, considering that (like many other TV shows) the set of Seinfeld always had a Macintosh prominently displayed in the background."
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Seinfeld the Mac user (Score:5, Funny)
Yes. And after a long hard days filming, the stars of the show would all use that computer to surf the net and read Slashdot, because that's the kind of introverted computer nerds they were.
Out of touch much? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, this could either be a great move on MS's part or an illustration of how woefully out of touch with popular culture they are. Seinfeld hasn't been on the air in over 10 years at this point (new episodes at least).
Re:Out of touch much? (Score:5, Interesting)
You have to assume that Crispin Porter (their new agency) is well aware of that, and plans to use it to their advantage. They have a reputation in the ad business of being the hippest of the the hip ad shops.
Parent
Hey don't blame microsoft! (Score:5, Funny)
They wanted Lucy and Desi to push Vista but they never returned Steve Ballmer's call!
This is only just the beginning. The next step is the new catchy theme song by Wynn Newton.
Parent
Re:Out of touch much? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, Richard Stallman's been re-running the same damn hippie crap on his channel for at least that long. And over at Apple? Steve Jobs has been wearing that same black turtleneck since 1986. And how about that Penguin? Man, that is fresh!
Actually, I imagine that Seinfeld's "establishment" personality is probably going to work very well in this case. It has the potential to be brilliant, with lots of good humorous irony potential. His AmEx spots have generally been pretty good. We'll see.
Parent
Don't Care (Score:5, Insightful)
"Mac users might be quite amused, considering that (like many other TV shows) the set of Seinfeld always had a Macintosh prominently displayed in the background."
Just an FYI, mac users are pretty similar to PC users. Most of us just don't care.
Re:Don't Care (Score:5, Informative)
They should care -- they pay for that. Macs don't show up by accident -- they show up because Apple pays for them to show up. When you buy a Mac, part of what you pay goes for Apple to buy product placements.
Just FWIW, the last time I checked Apple had the largest product placement budget of any computer maker I could find. At least at that time, HP had something like 10 times the computer sales, but less than one third the product placement budget.
Personally, I think this is true genius on the part of Apple. I'm convinced that product placements probably have a better payoff than almost any other sort of advertising. I think that's particularly true when/if a large part of what you're selling is a style or image.
Parent
Brutal honesty? (Score:5, Funny)
I have a novel idea... (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead of paying already rich celebrities to pimp out Vista, how about invest that $300 million into developing a SP2 that fixes the damn thing already.
Re:I have a novel idea... (Score:5, Insightful)
Because it would cost much more than that to fix the damn thing.
Parent
Oh, sweet irony! (Score:5, Informative)
It won't work. (Score:5, Insightful)
Vista has established a reputation as "the operating system you don't want". People hate it. People that haven't tried it hate it. Some people sit around and worry that someday someone will make them upgrade to Vista. An ad campaign simply can't compete with people talking to others about how much they hate Vista.
It's funny, but I've never heard people openly talk about how much they hate a Microsoft product before. Personally I think Microsoft has made a LOT crappier products than Vista. Outlook, IE6, and Exchange are a lot worse than Vista.
Re:It won't work. (Score:5, Funny)
Vista has established a reputation as "the operating system you don't want". People hate it. People that haven't tried it hate it.
Seinfeld will fit right in.
Parent
Wouldn't fixing some drivers give better PR? (Score:5, Insightful)
Wouldn't that generate better PR than using a deadbeat comedian?
Re:Wouldn't fixing some drivers give better PR? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is what I was thinking. It's cute that MS wants to improve the image of Vista. It's even cuter that they think getting a big name star in some ads about "breaking through barriers" will work. At least they aren't dumb enough to do a near clone of the Get A Mac ads. And anything with Seinfeld's name sells. Remember Bee Movie? Did you remember it existed 10 minutes ago, or did reading the name make you think for a few seconds before you remembered it ever existed?
But $300 million is a ton of money. How much did Apple spend developing 10.5? Was it over $300 million? How much did they spend on 10.1/Puma [wikipedia.org], the free point release?
You shouldn't need to spend that much money to tell people your 2 year old product isn't trash.
One of the geniuses bits behind the Apple ads is how simple they are. It's easy to make movies. Adding a new printer works well. Macs do what you want them to. So to combat these simple messages a 5 year old could understand, Microsoft is making a series of ads about breaking through barriers. Sounds like the kind of pseduo-management speak that drives me nuts. I hope the execution is better than the idea sounds, and the rest of Microsoft's campaigns.
Parent
This will be bigger than his "Bee Movie"!!! (Score:5, Funny)
n/t
VISTA = CHEVROLET (Score:5, Interesting)
I dont think Vista's all that bad, but reputation is powerful.
Re:Who are these people...? (Score:5, Funny)
Who use this buggy, slow Operating System?
George Costanza. That way he doesn't have to work. He just tells his boss that his computer is slow so he can't get much done.
Parent
Re:Who are these people...? (Score:5, Funny)
First version: "George doesn't like computers. George is getting angry!"
------------
Second version: Newman is sitting at home watching TV and eating cheesy puffs, his phone rings...
Kramer: "Why aren't you at work, buddy?"
Newman: "Luckily for us, the US Post Office has 'upgraded' to Microsoft Windows Vista. Mouahahaha!"
Parent
Re:Who are these people...? (Score:5, Funny)
Who use this buggy, slow Operating System?
George Costanza. That way he doesn't have to work. He just tells his boss that his computer is slow so he can't get much done.
You know, if Vista came with a hideaway under-the-desk bed, I'd probably use it.
The bed, that is, not Vista.
Parent
Re:Who are these people...? (Score:5, Insightful)
What security? You mean that little pop-up thing asking you "are you sure you want to do that?" every time you click something. The little pop-up that annoys people to the point where they begin to just ignore it, or figure out how to turn it off? Or is there some other amazing new security features in Windows Vista that I'm not aware of?
Parent
Re:Who are these people...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Looks like some M$ fanboi modded you down for being correct.
Vistas "security" features are pathetic and too little far too late. Joe Sixpack might take it seriously "Ooh, aah, dis noo operatin' systums got increased securitah!" but at the end of the day it's just security theatre.
Parent
Re:Jerry Seinfeld (Score:5, Informative)
No, the parent should be moderated as incorrect. Jerry Seinfeld was offered $5 million per episode to do another season of Seinfeld and turned it down. So no, he won't just go wherever the money is.
Parent
Re:I'd like to plug Vista ... (Score:5, Funny)
It's the only merciful thing to do.
MS really needs to admit that Longhorn failed, and ship another XP update.
Oh, wait. That's what they did.
-jcr
Parent
Re:Oh yea, that kinkey music, kramer, seinfeld (Score:5, Funny)
are kramer, george and jerry gonna come and fix the pc issues that my close circle is gonna have afterwards ?
No, Kramer will be busy filming another commercial in which he gives his opinion of the black Macbook.
Parent